5 Tips for Passive Recruiting

September 18, 2018 by Cameron P. Walker

While so many people out there are hunting for jobs today, there are many people who aren’t actively looking for new job opportunities. According to LinkedIn, only 30% of professionals are actively looking for a job. That means, 70% of available talent is passive and there are some extremely talented people out there who will never apply to your jobs.

Although these candidates might not be referred to as hungry job seekers, they still often lookout for new opportunities and work on expanding their networks. This implies that agencies do have hope to make this catch if they can strategize well and hone their recruiting skills to get this group of candidates. Sourcing candidates will require a different strategy compared to when hiring active job seekers. Remember that the passive job seekers are most likely pleased with their current jobs, so you might need to have a reason strong enough to get them to consider your agency.

Resource: Here’s is an excellent guide to source passive candidates written by leading recruiting software provider – Recruiterflow.

Here are five tips to help you with passive recruiting:

Go out there

As established in the earlier part of this article, most passive candidates are pleased with and content in their current jobs and positions. So, you might not get them by following the usual recruiting strategy because the chances are that they will not apply, as they are not purposefully looking for open positions to fit into. You will have to go out, consider where they network so that you can reach out to them. You can also check out what they read and even go further to connect with them via blogs and social media platforms. On social media, you can easily join communities where this set of people network together on a daily basis, interact with them and even follow them. Some will likely follow back and/or check your profile to see what you do.

Maintain communication with past candidates and current employees

You can use the advanced applicant tracking system to stay updated with past candidates and know their recent career moves. Using an applicant tracking systemwith LinkedIn integration will also help you see up-to-date candidate information within your tracking system. By doing this, you will know what your past candidates are up to now, many of which would have become better. Pitching your business back to them will be quite easy because they already have an idea what it is about, as they were interested at some point.

You can also communicate with current employees to help by word-of-mouth referrals. Ensure they know about the open positions you are willing to recruit into. It is likely that some of your employees formerly worked in a large company and they can always connect back with previous colleagues to let them know about an open position that they could fit into.

Advertise your top opportunities

If you are willing to get the best passive candidates, you will have to grab their attention by presenting something eye-catchy. Almost every worker seeks new opportunities that will help them and their CVs better, and if that is what you are willing to offer, they will gladly accept.

Connect on a personal level, not as a recruiter

Presenting yourself as a recruiter might only reduce your chances, as these professionals might not be interested in whatever you have to say concerning a job somewhere when they have one that they are committed to already. You can rather present yourself as a subject matter expert and talk with them on a personal level, to gain their trust and then attract them to the job. You can go further by starting a blog and using it to publicize industry conferences and speaking at those events.

Make your pitch outstanding

If you are looking to attract top candidates, you will have to go the extra mile. Have a clear pitch that explains the benefits of the position you are offering to passive candidates. What are you offering them that is better than what they are currently doing? This is one question that will linger on their minds as they analyze your pitch.

Passive recruiting requires a little more extra work and a unique strategy, but it will always worth it. By maximizing the five tips explained above, you can get the best passive candidates.